Speakers

Akinola, Lanre

Editor, African Business

Lanre Akinola is the Editor of African Business, IC Publications. He is the former Editor of This Is Africa at the Financial Times and a non-executive director at the UK’s Business Council for Africa. Lanre is a 2014 Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow.

Aldridge, Matthew

Manager – EMEA Real Estate, BMC Software

Matthew Aldridge Manages the Real Estate and Facilities for BMC Software in Europe the Middle East and Africa. He has been with BMC for 6 years. Matthew works with the Director of Real Estate, David Mirmelli and he is based out of their Winnersh office near Reading. Last year Matthew spent a few months travelling to the north of Israel, Tel Hai to help manage the successful completion of BMC’s 6.5 Million dollar 39,747 Square Foot office construction and fit out project.

Arkesteijn, Monique

Ir. Monique Arkesteijn is assistant professor of Real Estate Management at the Department of Management in the Built Environment, Faculty of Architecture, Delft University of Technology. She started at the faculty as a student in 1986 and was one of the first MBE graduates in 1993. She had various positions as project manager and consultant at Starke Diekstra, in the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles, and as partner at Diephuis Stevens. She re-joined the REM section of Hans de Jonge in 2003 after finishing a MBA and a travel around the world. Since 2013 she is team leader of the REM section and as such a member of the department’s daily board. Her research topics include CRE strategies, CRE alignment and measuring added value for both corporate, public and semi-public organisations. Monique is in the last phase of her PhD study on preference-based accommodation strategy design. Currently she is board member of CoreNet Global. Monique is the (co-)author of Designing an Accommodation Strategy (2009), The power of pluralism for urban strategies (2012) and the award winning paper in the Journal of Corporate Real Estate on Designing a preference-based accommodation strategy: A pilot study at Delft University of Technology (2015).

Armstrong, James

Head of Workplace Management Services, Colliers International

James Armstrong founded Colliers International's Workplace Management Services division in 2015; a unique offering for high performance workplaces that connect people, place and technology. WMS transforms the traditional approach to workplace services, partnering with premium corporate occupiers to maximise the workday experience for all people.

James pioneered the first “hotel style” service model for the commercial office sector in 2005.

Arteaga, Maria

Joined BBVA Group in 1995 in the Investor Relations area, as a Financial Manager. More than 10 years in the Corporate M&A and Strategy area leading BBVA’s American transactions and strategy analysis as well as post M&A and business integration models. Joined BBVA CRE in 2013 to lead the Transaction & Lease Administration processes focusing on the transformation. Managing more than 9k assets, more than 6 million square meters. Licensed in Business Admin. IESE MBA.

Baker, Nigel

Global Head of Real Estate, Novartis

Nigel Baker has over the last 2 years set up a Corporate Global Real Estate team for Novartis as part of a Shared Services organisation. Before joining Novartis, the company had no RE experience internally and Nigel had to create and build the team and set out the strategy for the next 5 years. The Global responsibility covered over 100 countries, 1,457 properties and a P&L of $550ml.

Prior to Novartis, Nigel joined Microsoft in 2004 as Director of Corporate Services – International for EMEA. The area of indirect responsibility covered 5 disciplines, namely Real Estate and Facilities, Travel and Entertainment, General Procurement, Marketing Procurement and Auto Car Programme.

The EMEA region covered over 67 countries, 220 properties, and a P&L of $680ml.

In 2007, Nigel assumed the full responsibility for all countries in EMEA and was promoted to Senior Director EMEA RE&F this role included direct responsibility and accountability for all RE&F matters, working with an internal team of approximately 45 staff and over 300 partners.

Before joining Microsoft, Nigel was Director of EMEA Real Estate at EDS (Electronic Data Systems). He held this position for over 5 years. During his time there, he was accountable for the property portfolio for the region which included handling new acquisitions, disposal of properties, lease renewals and re-gearing of leases.

Nigel is a qualified surveyor and operated as a developer for a number of years. He lives in London and Isola 2000 with his wife and son and enjoys sailing, skiing and tennis.

Baynton-Glen, Sarah

Sarah joined Standard Chartered in 2011. She works on the Africa Research team producing macroeconomic analysis of African markets, and interacting with Bank clients, policy makers and the media. She is based in London. Prior to joining the Bank, Sarah was based in Beijing. She holds a Master’s degree in Chinese Economy from Fudan University, Shanghai, and obtained a BA from the University of Bristol, UK. Sarah speaks English and Mandarin. She is a CFA charterholder.

Berresford, Helen

Helen is a recognised industry leader and through her creative leadership ID:SR has developed an activity-driven design approach which puts people at the heart of the design process. Working with a range of occupiers that include media organisations (CH 4, ITV and the BBC), blue chips (KPMG, Deloitte, Barclays) and retail brands, she is helping to overturn the traditional concept of the office environment.

Helen is passionate about design and aims to create spaces that enhance people’s ability to live, work, play and learn.

Blunt, Vernon

Director, Global Real Estate, Europe Hub, Ericsson Ltd.

Vernon is responsible for Ericsson’s Real Estate activity in over 200 locations across 55 countries. He has previously worked in CRE in the Financial Services sector and in Property Fund Management. He believes Real Estate is a value add to business and can improve (or diminish) wellness, productivity and happiness of people in their workplace.

Bonugli, Natasha

Regional Principal, Design, Unispace

Natasha was most recently Workplace Director at BDG architecture + design and Head of Workplace Interiors Europe at Woods Bagot’s London office. Trained as an architect in the US, retrained in the UK through RIBA, Natasha has specialised in workplace interiors for over thirteen years. She has acted as both Project and Design Director for several award winning schemes in the UK, USA, Europe and Middle East. Unispace appointed Natasha Bonugli as European Design Director based in its London studio.

Boogaard, JanJaap

Head of EMEA Workplace Solutions, Colliers International

JanJaap helps organizations rethink the way they work and develops innovative workplace strategies that impact on organizational goals like productivity, engagement and health of employees. He has a background in organization studies which enables him to develop workplace solutions that truly accelerate business instead of focussing on costs only. JanJaap is specialized in developing and implementing work concepts and requirements for corporate clients by balancing corporate best practices and specific local demands based on local conditions, specific work processes and country culture. JanJaap works on workplace and change management projects on a global scale for clients like ING, Deloitte, IBM, Societe Generale, KPMG.

Buck, René

CEO, Buck Consultants International

René Buck is founder and CEO of Buck Consultants International (started in 1985), a leading independent footprint strategy, location/site selection and supply chain consulting company. Buck Consultants International has offices in Europe in Nijmegen and The Hague (the Netherlands), Frankfurt, London, Paris, Brussels; in the US in Atlanta, Los Angeles and the Bay Area; and in Asia in Singapore and Shanghai. The firm employs 65 professionals.

Buck Consultants International has a track record of advising more than 900 large and midsize companies, in 50 countries all over the world. René Buck is a thought leader in the industry, spoke at numerous conferences (including various CoreNet Global Summits) and is seen by international media as a leading location strategy and site selection expert.

Chamberlain, Karl

Director, Global Service Delivery Manager, Projects, Deutsche Bank

Karl leads project delivery and workplace design on behalf of Deutsche Bank and has over 20 years’ experience in building design, construction and operation. He has recently implemented a global “Digital Workplace” strategy within the bank in order to better utilize space, enhance employee experience and promote better productivity.

Chester, Louise

Founder, Mindfulness at Work

Louise Chester, founder of Mindfulness at Work and Managing Director of Potential Project UK, first started practicing Mindfulness in 1994. It helped her retain her equanimity and balance, while sustaining a pressured career in senior Global Director roles in investment banking and fund management.

She later founded a flourishing consultancy practice offering financial and strategic advice to business leaders and entrepreneurs. In 2010, she established Mindfulness at Work Ltd. with the express intention of supporting organisations to provide easily-accessible, highly-effective Mindfulness training, to enable their teams to have greater focus and clarity, deliver greater value and thrive not just in the workplace, but in all areas of their life.

Chuo, Jeanie

Global Head of Workplace, HSBC

Jeanie is the Global Head of Workplace for HSBC. With an architect’s background, Jeanie has been delivering workplace change programs for large corporates for 17 years. Since joining HSBC in 2015 Jeanie has been leading the evolution of HSBC’s workplace through the “OpenWork” flexible working initiative, rolled out to more than 80,000 staff around the world, making it one of the largest flexible workplace programs in the banking sector. Today, with the use of sophisticated workplace metrics, HSBC is focused on sustaining the change and operationalising these new working environments.

Cole, Harry

Founder, Charmasson Management Consultants Ltd.

Harry runs his own real estate consultancy, Charmasson Management Consultants Ltd, which focuses on strategic advice to end users both in the Private and Public Sectors. He is skilled at creating value from an organisation’s assets and mitigating their liabilities, whether at a portfolio or single basis. Harry has a particular expertise within the manufacturing and distribution sector dealing with often complex sites. His career has involved him in a wide spectrum of activities across a c20m sq ft portfolio of manufacturing, distribution and office accommodation.

Harry spent 2 years as the Group Property Director of APV plc, a global engineering business, where he established the real estate function. In 1998 he was appointed European Real Estate Director for Electrolux Major Appliances. Since 2009 he has advised a wide range of clients a selection of which include; AB Husqvarna, Balfour Beatty, Electrolux and Central Bedfordshire. Harry is actively involved with CoreNet Global and is currently chair of the Manufacturing and Industrial committee within the UK Chapter.

Creamer, Michael

Michael joined Cushman & Wakefield in 1985 and has worked in New York, Hong Kong and London. He was appointed a Salaried Partner in 1989 and an Equity Partner in 1999. Michael has been a speaker and panelist at CoreNet Global Chapter Meetings, European and Global Summits. In 2010 Michael was asked to be responsible for the teaching of the Enterprise Alignment course (part of the MCR programme) in EMEA. As part of his CSR role, Michael has spoken at a number of forums on how corporates should respond to the CSR challenge. He has presented at the Ecobuild Seminar and the Sustain Magazine CSR conference in the UK. Michael has written a number of articles which have been published in the Property and Business press including RE Europe, Management Today, World Business and The LEADER Magazine. Michael has been a guest lecturer at Reading University for the Real Estate course and at Cambridge University on the corporate real estate agenda.

de Lange, Dewaldt

Dewaldt is an Account Director within Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Occupier Services Africa Business. He is responsible for advising Clients on the effective management and de-risking of their Real Estate portfolios and Investments across Sub-Saharan Africa.

With over 12 years commercial property experience in Africa, Dewaldt has built up a comprehensive understanding of the African market place, culture, business environment and investment climate as well as associated risks and the mitigation thereof.

He uses this experience in the successful implementation of standardised Real Estate Strategies across fundamentally different markets across Africa.

Dewaele, Tom

Vice President, Human Services, Unilever

Tom Dewaele is 38 and has almost 15 years’ experience in various fields across HR, both in expertise and as HR business partner.

He started his career in market research but after one year moved to HR, joining beer industry leader AB InBev to join the trainee program. He took various roles in HR expertise focusing on talent development and on reward. He worked as business partner in different environments including factories, sales & marketing offices, business centers and headquarters. In his last role he was HR Director joining the board of 1bn EUR business in BeNeFralux.

He joined Unilever in 2010 as VP Reward for Europe. In July 2013 he moved to Warsaw to become the VP HR for CEE, double hatting as HR Director for Poland and Baltics. After 3,5 years of living in Warsaw, he moved to the UK and since December 2016, he took up the role as Global HR Services lead for Unilever. In his new role he is part of Unilever global business services organization and member of the global HR leadership team at Unilever.

Being a native Belgian, Tom studied Psychology at the Catholic University in Leuven and a master in business planning at the Vlekho Business School in Brussels.

He is happily married with Veerle and has 2 daughters of 10 and 5 years old. He is located in London, UK. His passions include running, snowboarding and travelling.

Dunn, Robyn

Robyn Dunn is Atlassian's Global Workplace Experience Programs Manager who is focused on creating workplace environments and experiences where Agile team values can thrive.

For over 10 years she has been working at Atlassian across HR, marketing, real estate and program management functions. She believes that employee engagement and performance can be actively shaped and influenced by both the physical and intangible work environment. She has created and delivered unique employee experiences and environments to create high-performing Agile team situations.

Robyn believes that we are at a crucial intersection between technology and place, and that by focusing on human interactions within both of those elements we can create the greatest workplaces.

Dziwok, Piotr

Piotr Dziwok graduated from the Universities in Moscow, Krakow, Katowice and completed the MBA University in Minnesota. He led Shell Chemicals Division in the CEE and CIS and was Chemicals Director for Latin America and board member for Shell Brazil. He also led global CVP and an organizational change for Shell Global Fuel Cards. In 2011 he became Country Chair of Shell Companies in Poland and the GM of Shell Business Operations Krakow. In May 2017 he took the role of GM CP Operations Delivery Centre, remaining the Country Chair role.

Esterly, Will

EMEA-India Real Estate Portfolio Leader, Procter & Gamble

Will Esterly is Real Estate Portfolio Leader for the EMEA-India region at Procter & Gamble. He started his career at the company in 1996 as Project Manager. Since that time he has worked on many different positions in different regions, including countries like Costa Rica, Singapore and Switzerland.

Ewert, Michael

Michael excels at helping deliver tangible outcomes from owned and leased real estate using sophisticated data and analytics strategies for EMEA’s best companies.

Currently, he’s the Head of Business Intelligence & Business Solutions, EMEA at JLL, helping clients increase efficiency and deepen their insight into their portfolios leveraging our Center of Excellence and JLL’s big data and analytics platform ‘RED’. In his role he is leading various innovation initiatives to adopt JLL's portfolio services and technology to the changing ecosystem and identify the right partners to establish applications and products leveraging artificial intelligence, IoT & Big Data.

Fasovska, Roksana

COO, Co-Founder, ProvidensAI

Roksana is a Big Idea Marketer and a Tech geek, who co-founded an AI Proptech startup with the vision to become the “Bloomberg” of the real estate market. ProvidensAI churns millions of data points to accurately predict the value of property in real time and into the future. She started her career at Intel and worked in senior positions in marketing and business development for Man Group and Coutts Private Bank. She is a passionate real estate investor and has bought and sold multiple properties globally. She has an MBA from Warwick Business School.

Fassnidge, Andrew

Director and Founder, AppsAfrica.com

Andrew Fassnidge is Director and founder of AppsAfrica.com a leading pan-African technology news portal and advisory service, dedicated to delivering the latest insight and events on mobile, tech and innovation in Africa.

AppsAfrica Advisory provides strategic, tactical and operational Africa advisory services for mobile and tech ventures planning to launch or expand in Sub-Saharan Africa with a team of experienced advisors.

Andrew is also founder of the Africa Tech Summit London and co-founder of the West Africa Mobile Awards. These events celebrate and connect the best in mobile and tech from across the African tech ecosystem with global players.

Fundneider, Thomas

Founder & CEO, theLivingCore Innovation Architects

Thomas is a landscape architect and holds an MBA in General Management. His wealth of experience is rooted in highly diverse multi-stakeholder projects and his focus on the decisive details that often make the difference for the whole is extremely valuable for our clients. Thomas is a member of the Board of PDMA Austria and the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science; he teaches at several European universities.

Gall, Catherine

Director of Research, Steelcase

A French native who has studied and worked in 5 countries, Catherine Gall has been conducting user-centered workplace research for more than 15 years and has created the Steelcase Research Practice in Europe in 2004. A creative design thinker, she is passionate about innovation and experience design and is constantly seeking to understand the interplay of space, technology and behaviours. What is getting her most excited lately are recent discoveries about connections between the brain and the body that have significant implications for creativity, learning and focus in the workplace. She is a visiting professor at IE University in Madrid and regularly contributes to conferences and publications on the topic of workplace research.

Charlotte worked at Cushman and Wakefield for five years. The role involved secondments at EY, Associated British Foods and The Crown Estate.

Charlotte holds a BA (Hons) in Geography and MSc in Real Estate. She is a Member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS) and Vice-Chair of the Young Leaders Group. More recently, Charlotte was identified as one of CoreNet Global’s 36 under 36 Young Leaders.

Gillen, Nicola

Global Practice Lead, Strategy+; Director, AECOM

Nicola is Director and Global Practice Lead for Workplace (Strategy Plus) at AECOM. She is an architect with a business degree. Her team includes architects, designers, psychologists and sociologists focused on workplace strategy, design and change management. Nicola specialises in the relationship between behaviour and the built environment. Clients include Rolls-Royce, BMS, BP, Sky, Estee Lauder Companies, Palace of Westminster and Museum of London. Now based in London, Nicola has worked across Europe, North America and Asia. She leads thought leadership around the future of work, regularly publishing and speaking at conferences.

Guizol, Catherine

Real Estate Projects Director, Coca-Cola European Partners

Catherine Guizol has 20 years of experience as corporate end-user in real estate (management, projects & transactions). She is an inclusive French leader who is passionate about new ways of working and their positive impact on performance. She is a happiness maker and change enabler. Catherine led the new HQ Project of Coca-Cola in France. She is a graduate of the Université de Rennes and is a Lawyer.

Hamman, Chloe

Insights Strategist, CultureAmp

A self-confessed “people geek”, Chloe has a background in organizational psychology and psychometrics, with insider experience leading culture transformation and engagement programs. CultureAmp combines psychology, statistics, user experience and engineering to transform companies worldwide with insight into people and culture in the workspace.

Hanc, Madalina

PhD Candidate, Institute of Environmental Design & Engineering, UCL University College London

Madalina Hanc is an architect and freelance journalist, who writes on contemporary office, residential and cultural architectural projects. Her research explores the impacts of the built environment on human performance, well-being and behaviour, reviewing both measurable environmental parameters and psycho-social aspects of human experiences to the built environment. Madalina holds an MSc degree in Environmental Design and Engineering and is currently a PhD candidate at the Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering, The Bartlett, UCL’s Faculty of the Built Environment. She has been awarded an industrially funded Studentship sponsored by British Land, Cushman and Wakefield, RBS and CoreNet Global. Her PhD thesis, “The value of the workplace for organisations: Developing new metrics”, develops an holistic approach to understanding and measuring workplace effectiveness from the viewpoint of the user. The main output is a set of innovative metrics that connect the physical and social aspects of the workplace.

Harrington, Damian

Director, Head of EMEA Research, Colliers International

Damian is Regional Director for Colliers International, as EMEA Head of Research. He has worked within the real estate profession for 20 years, living and working from bases in London, Dubai, Prague and Helsinki. He has a deep understanding of EMEA occupational markets, having written extensively on the topics such as ‘Outsourcing and Offshoring’, the impact of generational shifts on office demand and how business sector workplace needs are changing, in a recent client-led, interview-based review of the TMT sector. Most recently, Damian launched Colliers’ Cities of Influence report in 2017, providing a comprehensive review of the attractiveness of key European office markets for the modern 21st century economy, and context to the likely impact of Brexit.

Henigan, Steve

Principal, Perkins+Will

Steve is a Principal and co-Leader of the Global Workplace Strategy Practice at Perkins+Will. He works with clients globally across all sectors to provide workplace solutions and change management programmes to support their business objectives. He is the current Chair of the CoreNet UK Workplace Community, regular speaker and won the Luminary award for his talk at the 2013 EMEA Summit with Saracens Rugby Club.

Hickey, Jason

CEO, Hickey & Associates LLC

Jason M. Hickey, President of Hickey and Associates, LLC, a Global Site Selection and Investment Advisory Firm. Through a network of offices in key markets in the Americas, Europe and Asia, H&A represents a diverse set of companies constantly adapting to our global economy. Jason specializes in location selection strategies, alignment of foreign direct investment, public/private partnerships and global workforce trends.

Ho, HoChun

Global Head, Data Governance and Management, Corporate Solutions, JLL

HoChun Ho oversees global data governance and management for the Corporate Solutions business line at JLL. The scope includes data standards and stewardship, master data management, data quality, meta-data management and the overall data roadmap. He also mentors JLL and its clients on overall enterprise data strategy to leverage industry best practices and leading edge technology in enterprise information management, business intelligence and big data.

HoChun has more than 28 years of data management experience, across banking, insurance, financial services, pharmaceutical, research, telecommunication, media and e-commerce. He has implemented data governance, architecture, integration and business intelligence in Fortune 100 organizations. HoChun is a board member of OSCRE.

Kane, Chris

Founder, Six Ideas

Chris Kane is a founder of Six-ideas who assist clients in using property and technology as catalysts for organisational and cultural innovation and change. He also serves as a Non-Executive Director for NHS Property Services and for Reach2 Academy Schools. He is Non-Executive Chair of Vanguard Real Estate and previously, he served on the board of Network Homes.

Chris has a wealth of experience in managing Corporate Real Estate and major construction projects having worked at the BBC, the Walt Disney Company and JLL. He holds an MBA from Henley Business School, A BSc from Trinity College Dublin and a Diploma in Project Management.

Katsikakis, Despina

For more than 30 years Katsikakis has led innovation, research and implementation of transformative business environments and exemplary real estate developments worldwide.

As Cushman & Wakefield’s Head of Occupier Business Performance, she provides input across the firm’s global business on the rapidly-changing context of work and its impact on employee engagement, productivity and wellbeing. With these factors increasingly determining the leasing decisions of leading corporations, Katsikakis’ unrivalled insight on the future of work benefits occupier clients – as well as the building owners and landlords seeking to attract them – through repositioning real estate to drive top line performance.

During her career Katsikakis has advised some of the world’s biggest companies, including Google, Unilever, BP, GSK and Microsoft, on how best to achieve tangible business goals through their workplaces. She has been instrumental in developing the vision and research to futureproof commercial developments around the world, most recently London’s TwentyTwo, the progressive 1.3m sq ft office development currently under construction in the City of London and Europe’s first major WELL-certified new-build project.

She serves on the advisory board of Delos™, the pioneers of Wellness Real Estate™ and founders of the WELL Building Standard and regularly lectures around the world, writes and contributes to media, research and publications on the future of the workplace.

Knight, Craig

Director, Haddleton Knight

Dr Craig Knight PhD HCPC CPsychol, is a global thought leader on maximizing organizational potential. He has been series advisor to both the BBC and Channel 4 focussing on leadership, productivity, creativity and well-being

Craig is expert in personal development, team improvement, recruitment and change management. Dr Knight is also a published author – on effective leaders, performance and psychometric evaluation – within both peer review and the popular media. All Craig’s work is based solely on hard evidence.

Kohn, Ryan

Co-founder, PROPERCORN

Ryan is the co-founder of PROPERCORN, the UK’s fastest growing premium popcorn company. In the space of just five years, Ryan has taken PROPERCORN from kitchen table startup to kitchen cupboard staple, creating an award-winning brand with global distribution. A serial entrepreneur, who had founded his own sustainable property company and charitable trust by the young age of 25, Ryan brought extensive commercial understanding, passion and resilience to the PROPERCORN. Along with his business partner, Ryan now leads a team of 40 from their offices in London, selling more than 2.5 million packs of their popcorn per month.

Lees, Chris

Principal, Serendipity29

Chris is a real estate technologist and mathematician who specializes in occupancy modelling and analytics. He has a master’s degree in Mathematics and thrives in complex, multi-faceted leadership and strategic development roles.

He has spent his career bridging the gaps – between real estate and technology; between workplace functions; and between aspiration and realization of workplace strategy. His ground-breaking applied research with Cambridge University has been used at Zurich Insurance Group to achieve millions of dollars of annual savings in the group’s property portfolio, and introduced a new way of thinking and talking about workplace, focusing on availability rather than utilization.

Lowrie, Doug

Global Workplace Product Manager, Microsoft

Doug Lowrie, A strategic thinker who disrupt conventional thinking about the workplace and its role in organizational performance. His keen analytical mind, demands sound logic in workplace programs, and is skilled at balancing evolving workplace concepts against cultural variety, changing demographics and the growth mindset.

Maguire, Robert Patrick

Robert is a highly experienced management consultant and operational manager with 30 years of extensive purchasing, sales and business experience across a wide range of industries and sectors.

He has built a successful consulting business specializing in procurement, sales and commercial management which has seen continued year on year growth for the past 15 years. His consulting assignments take in Europe, the US and the Middle East and South East Asia. Robert developed The Purchasing Profile, a self-administered diagnostic to allow consultants and line managers to develop operational strategies for the supply chain and to benchmark their performance in 20 areas of purchasing against other organizations.

Robert is also a well-known and respected trainer and speaker. For over 15 years, he has been developing and delivering highly interactive and focused training programmes and workshops for senior managers through to more introductory levels across a range of industry sectors and public, private and not-for-profit sectors. His clients include, Virgin Atlantic Airways, SKF (USA and Sweden), Motion Industries (USA), BAT (Worldwide), A Swedish Investment Company, Alta Investment Partners, HG Capital, Augentius, Imperial College Venture Team.

Marmot, Alexi

An architect and planner, Alexi combines academic and professional roles. She is Professor of Facility & Environment Management at UCL, Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, and founding director of AMA Alexi Marmot Associates, specialists in evidence-based consultative design. Her work focuses on briefing, design, operations and evaluation of workplaces, learning environments and cultural buildings. An author of books on offices, she has recently written Space on demand: Coworkspaces and space matchmaker apps and a chapter, Workplace trends around the world. Recent research explores physical activity within office buildings linked to heath outcomes, and new tools to explore productivity.

Matthaei, Emilio

CEO, LEVERTON

Emilio is CEO of LEVERTON. As a passionate data strategist, entrepreneur, ex-banker and researcher – Emilio revolutionizes how individuals work with data and documents. LEVERTON develops and applies disruptive deep learning technologies to extract, structure and manage data from corporate documents in more than 20 languages. Our platform empowers corporations and investors to be more efficient and effective with their data & document management.

McCrae, Patrick

CEO, ARTIQ

Patrick McCrae set up ARTIQ in 2009 with a vision of providing expertly curated, narrative driven art for the workplace. Fair treatment for artists is fundamental to ARTIQ’s ethos and model with ‘art rental’ offering artists a regular income and exhibition space for their work whilst providing clients with the ability to regularly refresh their environment and showcase arts patronage.

Patrick speaks regularly on wellbeing and the benefits of art in the built environment, with articles including OnOffice, FX Magazine, Occupiers Journal and FM journal alongside talks given at the IoD, Foster & Partners, Gensler and Cambridge University.

Mercer, Julie

Digital Employee Service Director, Unilever

Began career in Ministry of Defence as a programmer moving to BT as a Communications Software Engineer for 10 years followed by various IT partnering roles with Vertex Data Science, Mercer HR Consulting and SunGard, joining Unilever in 2008. As Digital Employee Services Director my responsibility is to connect IT to Unilever employees, the ‘voice of the employee’ to join up the user experience and provide services that increase productivity and are intuitive to use. Accountable for core Workplace technologies as well as business engagement with the Workplace function, driving the Digital Workplace and Employee agenda.

Middleton, Richard

Richard is based in London and is responsible for ensuring the excellence and integration of services Cushman & Wakefield provide to occupier clients across all service lines in EMEA - including Portfolio Administration, Strategic Consulting, Transaction Management, Programme Management, and Facilities Management.

Over the past 6 years he has contributed to BMC’s global “Office of The Future” and Digital Workplace transformation.

BMC is a global leader in innovative software solutions that enable businesses to transform into digital enterprises for the ultimate competitive advantage in distributed, mainframe, virtual and cloud environments. 82% of the Fortune 500 rely on BMC to accelerate their digital initiatives.

Morgan, Juliette

Head of Campus, Regent’s Place, British Land

Juliette has worked in property for 15 years. She has specialised in the technology and biotech sectors, working internationally to deploy co-working spaces, pop-up investment suites and sensored social spaces, and was a founder member of Tech City UK for the UK government.

Juliette joined British Land in 2017 to lead the strategic asset management of Regent’s Place, one of British Land’s three lifestyle campuses in London. Most recently, Juliette was the London lead for Cushman & Wakefield’s Global Technology Practice where she led the development of PiLabs – Europe’s first Proptech accelerator.

Muir-Sands, Jane

Jane Muir-Sands joined Unilever in May 2016 as Vice President for Workplace and Travel Services, with a remit to transform and optimise the organisation. Her focus is on delivering inspiring work spaces and services which attract and retain great talent; places which empower employees to concentrate on growing the business – while also supporting Unilever by providing financial and sustainable value back to the company.

At Unilever, Workplace and Travel Services manages a global portfolio with a footprint of 8.9 million square meters and a net book value of €2.7 billion. The Workplace and Travel Services budget of €7.8 billion makes up 10 percent of Unilever’s overhead and includes an annual travel spend of €300 million. Jane also leads the Employee Experience Executive within Unilever which is working across multiple functions to define the employee experience at Unilever, the systems that support it, and the infrastructure required to enable it. As the lines between IT and workplace have started to blur, this work includes development of a joint strategy for smart buildings in the digital age.

Before joining Unilever, Jane was at Shell for ten years, most recently as the global portfolio planning lead. During her tenure she had three main roles: leading a project to standardise ways of working and processes, policies and standards across real estate, facilities management and travel; setting up and leading a major programme in collaboration with HR, IT and workplace to make Shell ‘a great place to work’; and setting up scenario-based strategic portfolio planning, looking at total costs of occupancy as a basis to support decision making.

At Shell Jane was the leader on the upfront strategy and planning – as well as integration of assets - following their $80 billion acquisition of BG Group, a merger that was among the top ten in corporate history.

Jane has worked in corporate real estate for nearly 20 years, completing an M.Phil in Land Economy at Cambridge University in 1999. She trained as a graduate surveyor with Lambert Smith Hampton, and has also held positions at KPMG and Deloitte.

Napthali, Jane

Head of Corporate Services, Westpac Banking Corporation

Jane Napthali has been a property professional for over 20 years. She worked with JLL from the inception of CRE in Australia. Jane has worked with large corporations, private and government, in managing the depth and breadth of their real estate requirements. It was through this experience that Jane’s thirst and passion for great service was nurtured. She is often heard saying, “Who doesn’t love great service?” - hence ' The Corporate Hotel'.

Navarro, Alejandro

Director of Technology , Source8

Alejandro is a Civil Engineer in Electronics and holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science in Innovation and Technology. He is an expert on digital technologies and the opportunities and challenges they present to businesses and the future of work. With over 20 years of professional experience, Alejandro has worked extensively in LATAM and EMEAR, providing advice and delivering solutions to Fortune 500 companies in areas such as strategy definition, market analysis, product development, performance improvement and change management. Alejandro is the Director of Technology at Source8 in London and he is currently focused on identifying and developing novel business solutions to help transform the way organisations work.

Norberg, Johan

Author, Lecturer, Documentary Filmmaker,

Johan Norberg is an author, lecturer and documentary filmmaker. He is a native of Sweden, a Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington D.C. and the European Centre for International Political Economy in Brussels. He is a frequent commentator in Swedish and international media and columnist in Aftonbladet, one of the largest news portals in Sweden.

He has written 20 books, covering a broad range of topics, including global economics and popular science. His most recent book, the celebrated Progress: Ten Reasons to Look Forward to the Future (2016) was chosen the Book of the year of The Economist,Guardian and Observer. Johan Norberg regularly writes and hosts documentaries on development, economics and current affairs, in most cases for American television, including Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis, Power to the People, Free or Equal and Economic Freedom in Action: Changing Lives. He is a passionate, experienced and acclaimed speaker. Norberg has been particularly celebrated for an ability to make complex ideas easily accessible and to challenge his audience with truly sharp thinking for a rapidly changing world.

Norris, Steve

Partner, Incendium

An experienced Corporate Real Estate professional, Steve has managed worldwide teams and programmes as both a service provider and in-house leader for over 25 years.

In senior roles with EY, Cushman & Wakefield, Nokia Siemens Networks and ARCADIS, Steve has had a truly global career across diverse sectors, including living overseas for 10 years and managing successful delivery across five continents.

Novotny, Tomas

CEO & Founder, 720 Degrees

Tomas is the founder and CEO of 720 Degrees, technology company helping organizations such as GE Healthcare, Nokia, Danske Bank and many others with optimization of their workspaces for employee well-being & satisfaction through automated indoor environmental sensing and cloud analytics solution. Recently, 720 Degrees has been awarded 'Best IoT Startup' in the Nordic region and nominated for Environmental Awareness Award by IFMA New York. Tomas has studied business and technology at Aalto University in Finland, Seoul National University in South Korea, and Brno University of Technology in Czech Republic.

Oldman, Tim

CEO, Leesman

As the Founder of Leesman, Tim sought to offer the property market the first truly independent, unified and standardized pre and post occupancy evaluation tool. The Leesman Index is now broadly recognized as the first initiative to offer clients a dynamic occupier satisfaction-benchmarking tool, where the absolute consistency of data collection provides an ever-richer resource of comparative data. This is now quite simply the largest research project of its kind ever undertaken. As CEO, Tim is responsible for the creative and strategic development of the Leesman brand here and internationally, and for exploring the opportunities to develop parallel focused products for the Higher Education and Healthcare markets.

Pack, James

Managing Director, Sentinel RPI

James is Managing Director of Sentinel RPI, a leading UK based Sustainability Management Consultancy, and Chairs the CoreNet Global UK Sustainability Community.

He has worked in CRE, construction and sustainability sectors for over 22 years. As a result James is able to articulate the sustainable opportunities to both end users, investors and their delivery teams.

In 2017 he was commissioned by the British Council for Offices to lead a review of the salient medical evidence and prepare industry guidance for delivering relevant Health & Wellbeing Strategies with the Offices Sector.

He also sits on the World Green Building Council’s Offices ‘Occupiers’ working group which are focused on awareness of Health, Wellbeing and Productivity in Offices.

Parkin, Andrew

Partner, Global Head of Acoustics, Cundall

Andrew is the Global Head of Acoustics for Cundall, an award-winning multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy. He is also the Specialists sector lead, helping coordinate international expansion strategies.

He has been working in Acoustics Consultancy for 20 years and has presented numerous papers on practical aspects of real-world Acoustics. He is a member of the Institute Of Acoustics' Building Acoustics Group and is Immediate Past Chair of the Association of Noise Consultants.

Patrikios, Sophie

Senior Workstyle Consultant, Veldhoen + Company Limited

Sophie helps companies ensure their values and goals are matched by the way they work together. She enjoys seeing people regain their enthusiasm when they can influence the way they work together and she also gets to do the things she loves: facilitation, coaching, writing, presenting, training design and delivery, best-practice sharing, classic change management and generally making things happen. Sophie believes the way to close the gap between any given 'now' and 'to be' is with a relentless focus on execution and an optimistic but realistic attitude towards human nature.

Permuth, Rachel

Global Vice President of Research, Corporate Services, Sodexo

Dr. Rachel Permuth is the Global Vice President for Research for Corporate Services at Sodexo. Prior to working at Sodexo, she spent 10 years as a behavioral scientist at the National Institutes of Health. Rachel’s work revolves around understanding and measuring Quality of Life drivers in the workplace – both from the person and the built environment perspectives.

She received her PhD in Public Health from the University of Maryland with a concentration in Workplace Health Behavior. She also has a Master degree in Epidemiology from the University of South Florida. Her team is comprised of researchers from various backgrounds, including chemistry, social work, health communications, and health economics. Rachel also leads our internal practice on Experience Design in the workplace.

Peschl, Markus

Professor for Cognitive Science & Innovation Studies, University of Vienna

Markus F. Peschl is professor of cognitive science and philosophy of science at the University of Vienna. His areas of research and expertise include innovation, cognitive science, organizational theory and strategy, design, and spaces for knowledge- and innovation work (Enabling Spaces).

He is one of the founders of the inter-faculty interdisciplinary Research Platform for Cognitive Science and the head of the international Middle European Joint Masters Program in Cognitive Science and the Extension Curriculum on Innovation. He spent several years at the University of California, San Diego and at the University of Sussex for post-doctoral research. He is co-founder and CSO of the theLivingCore (http://theLivingCore.com) Innovation and Knowledge Architects and holds several guest professorships at European Universities.

Pickering, Sam

Director, Incendium Consulting Limited

Sam is a real estate expert with particular specialisms in sustainability and risk. Sam was previously head of energy and sustainability for EMEA at CBRE, before moving to Source8 as a senior director and head of Risk Management. Sam worked on programs with many corporates within a property and wider business context. Sam has a diverse career having previously flown helicopters around the world with the British Army and brings a unique perspective to Real Estate.

Pradère, Flore

Head of Corporate Research France, JLL

Flore Pradere is head of the research dedicated to management trends and new ways of working at JLL France. She has 10 years’ experience in marketing research and has conducted since 2012 an ambitious research program on the future of work. Her aim is to transform the way leaders apprehend their offices, inviting them to look at RE as a tool of value creation and employees engagement. Her last releases deal with the gen Y and Z, the contribution of RE to change management and transformation, brand and identity issues, the impact of technology and mobile working.

Puchalska, Katarzyna

EMEA Data Governance Lead, JLL

Katarzyna (Kasia) blends the data expertise, industry experience to successfully implement the data governance program in the corporate real estate world. Ability to communicate efficiently allows her to build the bridge between IT and business stakeholders, and explain the complex data concepts in a clear and concise way. Kasia is Regional Data Governance Lead at JLL.

Puybaraud, Marie

Global Head of Corporate Research, JLL

Dr. Marie Puybaraud is one of the most recognised world Thought Leader on Workplace Innovation, with a significant track record of research on CRE/FM and Workplace industry futures, workplace strategies, technologies, generational issues at work and with publications in leading international press like the Journal of CRE, The Economist, NewStateman, The FT, Le Monde, Le Figaro, BBC News on line, Daily Telegraph, Il Sore 24, Handesblatt, in the G8 Summit Report and presentations and keynote speeches at all major global symposium and consortium on CRE, FM and Workplace (McKinsey, Milan Furniture Fair, SIOP Conference, WorkTech, CoreNet Global, Workplace Trends, IFMA...).

Rawdon-Mogg, James

Director, EMEA Corporate Solutions, Colliers International

James has been an active member of CoreNet Global for the past 3 years and is the UK Chapter Young Leader President for 2017 and a member of the executive committee. James is part of the Corporate Solutions team at Colliers International for the last 4 years, providing strategic advice to corporate occupier clients across the EMEA region.

Risk, Lisa-Jane

Director of Group Property Towergate Insurance, Towergate Insurance

Property professional with broad experience gained at senior level working within private equity backed businesses. Key skills - creating and leading successful teams, portfolio and asset management. Currently Director of Group Property at Towergate leading the property and facilities function with a UK wide portfolio of 100 locations. . Previously Property Director at Bizspace Ltd, the UKs largest provider of managed workspace. More than 25 years’ experience of working 'client side' for large multi-site organisations, including eight years at NCP. Immediate Past Chairman of Women in Property.

Romeo, Saverio

Principal Analyst, Beecham Research

Saverio runs research in the areas of M2M, Internet of Things, and wearable technologies. He has published in areas such as mobile healthcare, smart cities, smart utility, data analytics, smart farming, M2M/IoT connectivity, and M2M/IoT platforms. On these subjects, Saverio has also advised organizations such as Vodafone Group, Sierra Wireless, Telit, Motorola Solutions, Telefonica, Sony, Inmarsat, Accenture, Wireless Logic and GSMA.

He has talked about IoT related topics as presenter and panelist at several conferences such as IoT Tech Expo, IoT Forum, IoT Convivio, MWC, Wearable Technology Show, and IoT Week. He is also Seminar Lecturer on the IoT Market at Birkbeck College Ubiquitous Computing and IoT Course and Guest Seminar Lecturer at Embedded Systems Group University of Loughborough.

Previously, Saverio worked as an M2M/mobile analyst at Frost & Sullivan, telecommunications policy analyst at Technopolis Group and European Commission and as a software developer at DS Group.

Saverio is also a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Innovation Management Research at Birkbeck. His research revolves around entrepreneurship in high-tech sectors and IoT policy. On those topics, he has published 6 academic journal articles, 7 book chapters, and 11 academic conference papers.

He holds three Master Degrees, one in Telecommunications Engineering (University of Naples “Federico II”), one in Information Technologies (“Politecnico di Milano” University - CEFRIEL) and one in Innovation Management and Technology Policy (Birkbeck – Universtiy of London). He speaks fluent English; he is native Italian and he is intermediate in Modern Greek.

Ross, Jonathan

Business Development Director, Structure Tone

Jonathan is responsible for client relations and Business Development at Structure Tone out of their London office. He works with many international clients helping them with their office fit-out requirements and he also sits on the CoreNet Global UK committee responsible for external relations.

Rowan, David

Editor-in-Chief, WIRED UK

David Rowan is Editor-in-Chief of WIRED UK, Condé Nast's award-winning technology-and-innovations magazine that strives to stays ahead of the trends transforming our world.

David travels extensively to investigate the world’s most innovative companies and entrepreneurs, spending time with the founders of WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Google, Spotify, Nest, Xiaomi and many other disruptive start-ups from Tel Aviv to Shenzhen. David has interviewed influencers ranging from will.i.am to James Murdoch, Zaha Hadid to David Cameron.

His most recent awards include Techmark Technology Journalist of the Year, DMA Editor of the Year and British Society of Magazine Editors' Editor of the Year.

David brings his extensive experience as a newspaper and magazine editor, and television broadcaster, to communicating complex trends in clear, accessible ways that give audiences that "Aha" moment of understanding. His presentations are fast-paced, energetic, visually stimulating, packed with concrete examples, and infused with wit.

Rudland, Ian

Director, Ergolytix Ltd

Formerly CEO of a large real estate consultancy practice specialising in the delivery of strategic corporate property advice to international and global organisations. I now hold several Non-Executive and advisory roles including Chairman of DeVono Cresa and have invested in a new technology business called Ergolytix Ltd with the aim of delivering intelligent building solutions.

Rudolf, Tomasz

CEO, The Heart

Tomasz Rudolf is Founder and CEO of The Heart, European Center for Corporate-Startup Collaboration. He has almost two decades of experience driving innovation processes in large corporations, including 3M, Mastercard, Saudi Aramco, P&G. The Heart is a single point of contact for corporate innovation leaders who want to engage with ready-to-scale startups in Europe and Israel.

Saberwal, Amelia

Amelia is a Workplace Strategist, Coach, Facilitator and Change Manager. She is passionate about people, understanding how they tick, and how design enables them live exemplar work lives.

Her working relationship with you will be one that partners, champions, cheerleads, challenges and innovates (whilst insisting upon having healthy doses of fun along the way). Based in the London studio, her career has taken her around the globe and through the doors of the world’s leading organisations.

Saddington, Michael

Corporate Services Manager, Westpac Banking Corporation

Michael’s interest in alternate workplaces began with a seminal new workplace, Campus MLC in 1998. As a former live Theatre Manager, MLC were looking for someone with experience in property and hospitality to be able to design and implement the services that would support the concepts behind a new way of working. This began an interest in the Workplace as an agent of organisational and cultural change and maintaining the relevance of the workplace to the evolving changes in how people work and collaborate. Pursuing this specialisation with Cisco and Singtel Optus, Michael is pioneering a new workplace support model with one of Australia’s major banks, Westpac.

Sargent, Kay

Senior Principal, Director of WorkPlace, HOK

A recognized expert in workplace design and strategy, Kay has spent more than 30 years optimizing global real estate portfolios and creating innovative work environments for Fortune 500 companies. As director of HOK’s WorkPlace practice, Kay helps companies identify their unique organizational DNA, align space with business goals, and develop and deliver the workplace of the future across continents. Kay serves on the CoreNet Global Board and the National ASID Foundation Board of Trustees. A co-founder of the IFMA Workplace Evolutionaries community and founding member of Upward’s DC chapter, Kay is also on the advisory board of Work Design Magazine.

Schuitemaker, Wouter

Managing Director, EMEA, Hickey and Associates LLC

Wouter Schuitemaker is Managing Director, EMEA for Hickey and Associates, a global full service site selection firm. He leads the firm’s delivery of inbound and outbound projects in the EMEA region, providing clients with location strategy, workforce analysis and the full process for incentives of identifying, negotiating and capturing financial support for projects from government aid opportunities.

Wouter also has prior experience leading the highly regarded inward investment programme for Greater Birmingham as well as heading up the Asia-Pacific operations at London & Partners, the UK capital’s foreign direct investment agency. Wouter has also held management roles at Japan’s largest market research company as well as the Japan offices of brand consultancies within the Omnicom and WPP media groups.

Wouter is co-located in London and the Midlands and continues to serve as an Executive Committee member for the British American Business Council for the Midlands region.

Seeger, Clara

Neuroleadership Coach, Mindfulness at Work

Clara Seegeris a Neuroleadership coach, corporate facilitator, speaker and author, specialising in Mindfulness, Neuroscience and Emotional Intelligence. Oxford-educated (MA, M.Phil) and with a PhD in German literature she worked in investment banking before training as a coach. Clara works with international companies across many sectors and countries, delivering leadership development coaching, mindfulness interventions and coach training.

Clara’s coaching and training approach builds on research from neuroscience, in order to help clients maximise a sense of optimal attention, wellbeing and inner calm. Following the completion of her M.Scin “Mindfulness: Neuroscience and Clinical Applications” at King’s College, London, Clara has developed her own mindfulness-based coaching methodology and is passionate about introducing the benefits and neuroscience of mindfulness to the corporate world, both theoretically and practically. She is the author of Mindfulness at Work in a Week (Hodder & Stoughton, 2016), a practical and neuroscience-based introduction to mindfulness for the workplace. Her previous book Investing in Meaning –An Alternative Approach to Leveraging your Portfolio(Completely Novel, 2012), is a coaching book for helping professionals maximise their sense of meaning at work.

Skinner, Steven

Transactional Director, HB Reavis

Steven Skinner joined HB Reavis in 2017 as Transactional Director. He is responsible for developing the UK business and leading teams through acquisitions, leasing, financing, asset management and marketing. Prior to joining HB Reavis, Steven was head of BNP Paribas Real Estate’s West End and Midtown office and head of West End Investment. Steven holds a 1st class degree in Commercial Real Estate and has been nominated / included on numerous industry awards / lists such as Estates Gazette Young Property Person of the Year, Property Week’s most influential property people under 40, CoreNet Global’s Annual Insight Award and RICS Development Surveyors Award.

Smith, Randy

Vice President, Global Real Estate & Facilities, Oracle Corporation

Randy Smith, Vice President, Global Real Estate & Facilities, for Oracle Corporation, started his real estate career upon joining Oracle in 1989. He is currently responsible for real estate and facility operations for Oracle’s global portfolio of approximately 25 M square feet.

Randy graduated from Stanford University in 1985 with a M.S. in Civil Engineering: Infrastructure Planning and an A.B. in Human Biology: Land Use Planning.

Spilger, Alex

Senior Vice President, Global Occupier Services, Cushman & Wakefield

Alex Spilger is Senior Vice President at Cushman & Wakefield and has worked on over 100 diverse green building projects with clients such as Google, Salesforce, Skype and GoPro. In addition to his project work, Alex has also taught over 300 green building workshops through organizations such as the US Green Building Council (USGBC), American Institute of Architects and the Stanford Graduate School of Business among others.

Alex serves on the Programs Committee for CoreNet Northern California and the ULI Sustainability Committee. He a LEED & WELL Accredited Professional and holds a B.S. in Civil Engineering from UCLA.

Stanaway, Amanda

Principal, Woods Bagot

Amanda sits at the forefront of workplace design; currently working with a broad portfolio of corporate clients worldwide. Her role as Principal and Workplace Interiors Leader encompasses strategy and interior design across the commercial, lifestyle and public sectors and this mix of skills and diversity of knowledge provides a unique, comprehensive and innovative approach to projects for her clients.

Amanda has been instrumental in creating some of the most cutting edge workplaces in Australia – which have delivered real business advantage and positive change for the organisation.

Thurman, Paul

Professor Thurman, a Columbia MBA valedictorian, service award winner, and multiple teaching award recipient, has extensive experience helping a variety of governments and corporations realize value from innovative leadership, operations, and technology strategies. Thurman teaches strategic management and data analysis at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, in the Department of Health Policy and Management, and has led the department's Non-Degree Executive Education Programs and its its Professional Development Program. Previously, he was a Healthcare Research Fellow, Professor, and MBA Director at the Moscow School of Management SKOLKOVO, and has held professorships in China, India, Brazil, Greece, Saudi Arabia, England, and Iceland. His recent peer-reviewed research has focused on scientific collaboration and its effect on research quality, and on cancer drug patents, FDA approvals, and market pricing. He received his BS in Mathematics from Stanford University, received his MBA (with highest honors) from Columbia, and completed doctoral (DrPH) coursework in health policy and management at the State University of New York. He is currently pursuing his Doctor of Business Administration degree (DBA) from Ecole des Ponts, in Paris, France.

Tillett, Charles

Director Decision Support and Risk Management, GSK

Responsible for Decision Support and Risk Management within GSK’s Real Estate team. This translates into being accountable for the operations that sit behind the real estate function, ranging from defining the overall real estate strategy to identifying and putting in place all of the core elements required to successfully deliver it. Specific areas of responsibility include, Risk Management, Performance Management, Data Governance and Technology, and the process and tools that govern the delivery of change in the portfolio.

Turner, Jonathan

Jonathan has over 30 years of real estate experience, specialising in advising multi-national corporates and managing multi-disciplinary client relationships. A Partner since 1995 at Cushman & Wakefield, he established the firm’s occupier management business in the UK, has undertaken global client leadership roles for many years and latterly he has also been the relationship manager responsible for developing and expanding Cushman & Wakefield’s service delivery platform in Africa. Jonathan relocated to Johannesburg in July 2017 to further expand the firm’s Occupier Services functions and the service delivery platform across Africa.

A chartered surveyor (RICS), Jonathan holds a BA (Hons) in Economic History from Durham University, an MA in Land Economy from Cambridge University and a Masters in Corporate Real Estate (CoreNet Global).

van der Walt, Johan

Real Estate Lead, Africa and Middle East, Unilever

Johan started his career in real estate as investment broker with C&W. He proceeded to advise on and manage the portfolios of multinational clients including Canon, Nike, Converse and Unilever across Africa, Europe and Asia. Johan has extensive multidisciplinary international experience having lived in Amsterdam, Hong Kong and Shanghai. He holds a B.Eng (Electrical) and B.Sc (Physics and Mathematics) from the North West University and is currently with Unilever where he heads up the real estate team in Africa and the Middle East.

van Driel, Jurre

Portfolio Manager EMEA, Shell

Jurre is an experienced professional in corporate and commercial real estate. As portfolio manager at Shell, he is responsible for managing commercial transactions (including leases, acquisitions and disposals) and construction and fit out projects within Shell’s EMEA non-hydrocarbon asset portfolio (which includes offices, labs, residential, workers camps and land). Jurre is project lead for the new Shell SBO shared services centre in Krakow (>3000 workstations). He has been with Shell since 2013. Before, he worked for real estate companies OVG and Prologis throughout various countries in Northern and Central Europe.

van Wyk , Bertie

Insight Programme Manager, Herman Miller

Bertie started with Herman Miller in 2006 after completing 2 degrees in International Business & Marketing and his holistic approach to business has helped develop multiple departments. His unique blend of skills and ability to analyse and communicate business improvements make him the ideal wellbeing advocate.

Through his deep understanding of humancentric design and workplace wellbeing, Bertie effectively equips organisations with the knowledge and skills to become more productive, healthy and connected. Bertie’s lust for life is clearly visible in his engaging presentation & communication style, and through this he is able not only to expand client thinking, but to transform it.

Vazquez, John M.

SVP, Global Real Estate, Verizon Communications, Inc.

John M. Vazquez joined Verizon in January of 2012 as Sr. Vice President of Global Real Estate. In this role, he is responsible for over 110 million square feet of real estate and 4,500 facilities in 54 countries. He manages a group of more than 600 real estate professionals and directs efforts in the optimization of the Verizon portfolio. Core to this is leading the strategic direction of facility management and services, leasing, asset management, design & construction, workplace design and energy management programs across the Verizon footprint.

John’s vast knowledge and experience as a key innovator has led to recent appearances and interviews including Bloomberg News and American Builders Quarterly.

Prior to his position at Verizon, John served as Vice President of Vendor Sourcing and Corporate Services as well as Chief Procurement Officer at MetLife (2004 – 2012). He has also held positions at JP Morgan Chase (1993 – 2003) as SVP Director of Global Facilities and at IBM (1983 – 1993) as Real Estate Program Manager for HQ Operations.

John received his Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College in 1984 and an MBA from Sacred Heart University in 1993. John serves on the Board of Visitors for Sacred Heart University, served on the Engineering Board of Fairfield University and on various professional associations. John is actively involved in several public and community services, including ASPIRA, St. Francis Food Pantries and Shelters and the Special Olympics.

Venable, Tim

Senior Vice President, CoreNet Global

Tim Venable is Senior Vice President for CoreNet Global. He leads a team that delivers a wide range of knowledge-based services for association members, including transformational and survey-based research, benchmarking, Discovery Forums, the online Knowledge Center and the Executive Leaders Council, among others. He formerly served as Editor of LEADER magazine, the official publication of CoreNet Global.

Venable joined IDRC (one of CoreNet Global’s predecessor organizations) in 1989 and spent more than 10 years writing for Site Selection magazine, its official publication. During that span, he wrote hundreds of articles on corporate real estate, site selection and economic development. Before joining IDRC, he worked in retail real estate and site selection for Jackson, Miss.-based JFM Inc., a convenience store franchiser, and for two state-level economic development agencies – the Mississippi Dept. of Economic Development and the Mississippi Research and Development Center.

He joined The IDRC Foundation, the research and learning arm of IDRC, in 2000. CoreNet Global was formed in the 2002 integration of IDRC and NACORE.

Venable earned a master’s degree in economic development from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1984. He received a bachelor’s degree in American History, with minors in Political Science and French, from Troy State (Ala.) University in 1982.

Villar, Yannick

SVP, Head of Global Strategic Accounts Development, Altai Consulting

Yannick Villar started his career at Altai Consulting in 2004 in Kabul, Afghanistan, in a consulting, research & communication firm. He supported the first private mobile phone operator in the country, Roshan, in its commercial deployment, its strategy, its offer development and its communication. In 2006, he joined Sodexo as strategic projects head, reporting to the EVP Continental Europe, LATAM and Strategic Accounts. He was promoted in 2015 to SVP Head of Global Strategic Accounts Development where his responsibility is to grow the business and develop the relationship with the top 25 strategic accounts of Sodexo globally. Yannick is a graduate of the French business school HEC (2005) and spent one year for the CEMS exchange program at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy.

Weninger, Robin

Managing Director, shapingwork

Robin Weninger is the Managing Director of the management think-tank shapingwork and the Director of Education at the German Tech Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC). Robin works closely together with universities, thought leaders and management thinkers to develop state of the art management practices and frameworks. Hedesigns individual coaching and training programs for organisational needs and runs management courses at business schools. In 2015 Robin was honoured as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum and is currently the Curator of the Frankfurt Hub. His credo is “Creating something beautiful by leading change and maximising empathy”.

Williams, John

Head of Marketing, The Instant Group

John is a property marketing expert who has worked with a number of leading brands including Sotheby’s International Realty, Land Securities, Woods Bagot, Brookfield, Instant, Unispace and Knight Frank. He sits on the board of the Property Marketing Awards and has presented at the EG Marketing Summit for the past three years. His experience spans both the commercial and residential sector. In the past year, he has acted as a key note speaker at the JP Morgan Real Estate conference, a Corenet UK Workspace Seminar on co-working, chaired a session at Cornet EMEA, MIPIM UK and Worktech London.

Yasar, Ansar

Professor, Hasselt University – Belgium / Ergolytix Ltd – UK

Dr. Ansar-Ul-Haque Yasar is a professor at the Transportation Research Institute (IMOB) – Hasselt University Belgium since October 2011. A part of his current job includes international collaborations, projects and business development at IMOB. He is also responsible for the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) course for the masters of transportation sciences students at UHasselt.

His research interests include ubiquitous computing, context-aware communication, intelligent transport systems and mobility management. He has authored more than 40 research articles in renowned international journals, conferences and workshops. As one of his major accomplishments, Dr. Yasar has co-edited a book entitled “Data Science and Simulation in Transportation Research” published by IGI Global in December 2013.

Yendell, Tim

Head of RBS Choice and Design, Royal Bank of Scotland

Tim leads the bank’s workplace flexibility programme ‘RBS Choice’, a key enabler for the transformation of RBS, driving culture change, financial & portfolio performance through increased activity based working, variable working patterns and an enhanced people proposition. This covers 2000 properties, around 1.5 million sqm, occupied by over 85,000 colleagues. Tim was originally educated as an interior designer at Edinburgh College of Art.

Young, Duncan

Head of Workplace Health & Wellbeing, Lend Lease

Duncan is the head of workplace health & wellbeing for Lend Lease’s new global head office at Barangaroo, Sydney and consults to external business wanting to develop their own health & productivity strategies. Interest in Health & Wellbeing of employees continues to grow as businesses acknowledge its impact on attraction and retention of employees, a major cost of running a business. This is an emerging field that fills in the gaps between physical green buildings and maximising employee performance.

Yueh, Linda

Fellow in Economics and Adjunct Professor of Economics, St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford and London Business School, and Visiting Professor of Economics at Peking University

Dr. Linda Yueh is Fellow in Economics at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, Adjunct Professor of Economics at London Business School, and Visiting Professor of Economics at Peking University. She is a broadcaster, including for BBC Radio 4 and the World Service, and was the BBC’s Chief Business Correspondent and host of “Talking Business with Linda Yueh”, as well as Economics Editor at Bloomberg TV.

Professor Yueh is Co-Chair of the Global Cities Business Alliance (GCBA), and sits on the supervisory Policy Committee of the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as serving on the Advisory Board of The Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), and as a Trustee of the Coutts Foundation and the Royal Commonwealth Society. She has advised the World Bank, European Commission, Asian Development Bank, World Economic Forum, among many others.

She is widely published and is the Editor of the Economic Growth and Development book series at Routledge. Her books include: Macroeconomics (with Graeme Chamberlin), Globalisation and Economic Growth in China (with Yang Yao), The Law and Economics of Globalisation: New Challenges for a World in Flux, The Future of Asian Trade and Growth: Economic Development with the Emergence of China.

Zamora, Mike

Managing Director, Asia Real Estate Advisors

Mr. Zamora is currently the Managing Director at Asia Real Estate Advisors, which provides portfolio and locational strategy for Corporations, along with due diligence, financial and advisor services for Real Estate Investment Companies and Funds throughout the Asia Pacific Region.

His experience encompasses many functions in the real estate industry and many geographies. For the past 20+ years he has worked on real estate projects throughout the entire Asia Pacific Region.

He has worked in the Corporate Real Estate arena, where he helped Cisco develop a 10,000+ person / 2.5 million sf campus in India. He also planned a 3,000+ person campus in Sydney, Singapore and Shanghai. While at Cisco the portfolio consisted of 70+ location in 13 countries in approximately 5.3 million square feet.

Mr. Zamora was also a Director at Brooke International where he provided real estate consulting services for clients throughout the Asia Pacific region. When he initially arrived in Hong Kong, he was the Vice President for Koll Asia Pacific, a US based real estate development company. At Koll he oversaw the development of a 300 room hotel project in China and a 1,200 acre new town development in Thailand. While in the US, Mr. Zamora worked for the Koll Company as an Asset Manager for a 1.5 million square feet mixed use project.

He started his career in the US, working in the fields of: Architecture, Development and Real Estate Finance. Mr. Zamora is still a registered Architect in the US. In addition to working throughout Asia, Mr. Zamora has also worked in London, Boston, New York, Newport Beach and Phoenix.

Mr. Zamora previously served on the Harvard Business School of Hong Kong Association’s Board of Directors. He has also served on CoreNet’s Global Board of Directors. He has spoken at MIPIM and other real estate conferences. He has taught multiple real estate courses throughout Asia, Europe and the US for real estate professionals. His real estate articles have been published in various real estate journals.

He graduated from Harvard Business School with a Master of Business Administration and attained his Bachelor of Architecture degree from Arizona State University.